


The Struggle

by Xhaira



Series: Rheim and Flompky [1]
Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Cooking, During HoT, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mordremoth is just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 06:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21423499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xhaira/pseuds/Xhaira
Summary: Flompky arrives to his new home early and finds his mate in distress.
Relationships: Original Male Sylvari Character/Original Male Charr Character
Series: Rheim and Flompky [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559809
Kudos: 2





	The Struggle

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in 2016 but I've decided to re-post it here (again). End notes has links to their tumblr tags.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Flompky walked into the front door of his new home in The Grove. Dropping his bags on the floor in the front room, he lifted his nose, sniffing at the air. Food was cooking in the home, meat and some sort of potato dish from the smell of it. Grinning, Flompky headed towards the kitchen, the home familiar to him despite this being his first day officially moving in. He walked toward the open archway leading to the kitchen. Rheim stood in the middle of his kitchen, a mixing bowl in the crook his left arm, his right hand stirring the contents expertly. 

Flompky leaned against the frame and crossed his arms. Despite the fact that the food was already cooking, Rheim continued to work furiously over the pale mixture that was probably intended to be dessert. Flour covered the counter, the floor, and Rheim’s clothes. The sylvari didn’t hear Flompky enter, continuing to frown at the mixing bowl as he mixed the concoction. Suddenly, he exploded. 

“Why won’t you thicken, you stupid dough!!!” he blurted out, suddenly slamming the bowl onto the countertop before grabbing it again and throwing it into the wall. The bowl crashed against the wall and broke into hundreds of pieces, the untame mixture flying over the side of the room. 

Flompky jumped at the sound, raising his eyebrows at the extremely rare display of anger. Rheim never got this upset over something so trivial. He was an excellent cook but always had issues baking desserts. Flompky had seen him fail to bake numerous desserts but Rheim never got upset about it. This time, however, the sylvari was visibly distressed. He placed his hands on either side of his head as if he were in pain. Worried, Flompky pushed himself off of the doorway and walked into the kitchen. 

“What’s wrong Rheim?” he asked, frightening his lover by appearing next to him suddenly.

“Key, what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here for another two hours.” Rheim said, flustered at being caught off guard. He didn’t realize the charr had been in the room, was embarrassed to realize he’d lost his temper on the first day of Key moving in. His eyes widened.

_ What if he changes his mind because of that? Who wants to live with an angry sylvari? Especially with Mordremoth causing so much distrust towards us. _ Rheim inwardly cringed.

Flompky could see the embarrassment and panic rising into Rheim’s face, moved closer to him to try and soothe his mate.

“I finished all of my errands. Thought I’d come early to- Stop backing away from me.” Flompky frowned, noticing the small movements Rheim made to keep the distance between them significant. 

“S-sorry” Rheim whispered, stopping and letting Key put his arms around him. As soon as the charr enveloped him, his hesitant tears began to spill down his face. 

“What’s wrong, Rheim? What’s going on? Please tell me.” Flompky tightened his hug when he smelled the salty tears and felt his shirt dampening. The sylvari just burrowed his face into Flompky’s chest, his silent tears turning into noisy sobbing. 

Flompky lifted Rheim up, carrying him to the living room. He sat on the couch and kept his upset lover in his lap, tucking his head under his chin. Flompky stroked his paw up and down the sylvari’s back, trying to provide as much comfort as possible. It wasn’t until almost 15 minutes later that the sobbing softened into a light crying, which soon turned to sniffling. He waited, continuing to rub Rheim’s back. 

A few moments later, Rheim lifted his head from Flompky’s chest and looked up at the charr holding him. A golden flush covered Rheim’s face, both from the harsh crying and the slight embarrassment of breaking down so suddenly. 

“Sorry…” Rheim whispered. “I didn’t mean to cry all over you. How’s that for a welcome home, huh?” he laughed bitterly, looking down at his hands.

Flompky pulled Rheim to his chest again.

“You’re fine.” he answered, resuming the back rub. “But you need to tell me what just happened. I’ve never seen you get so upset. You know that you can tell me anything.” he continued. 

“Yeah, I know.” Rheim replied. “I just...lost it a bit. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, that’s all.”

“Yes, I know you have. But that’s not the issue here, is it? Or at least, it’s not the only one.” Flompky pressed. 

Rheim played with the buttons on Key’s shirt, afraid to tell his lover what was going on for fear of rejection. 

“Rheim?”

“I know, I know. It’s still stress but it’s really...intense.” Rheim finally answered. “I was excited at first, about you moving here. I still am. But lately things have been...difficult for me.” he continued. 

Flompky froze. “Would you rather I stay in the Black Citadel? I don’t mind, if it will make you feel better. I will come visit you. And you can come to my home whenever you’d like.” he said, his heart pained a little at the thought of being separated from his love any longer. 

“No!” Rheim sat up. He put his hands on Key’s face. “No, I want you here. I really do. I love you and I want to spend my days with you. It’s just that...everything is changing because of the...issues going on in Maguuma.” he explained.

“Is that why you haven’t been leaving home? Has someone been treating you unkindly?” Flompky’s fur bristled at the thought of his mate being harassed. 

“...sometimes. The outsiders who come here are friendly enough...but the others… some people in Lion’s Arch...they are often aggressive or rude to me now. Even the merchants I work with regularly. And as much as I love visiting Ascalon, many of the charr won’t tolerate my presence. Especially those with direct losses due to turned Pact members.” Rheim confessed. 

Flompky growled low in his throat, stopping when he felt Rheim stiffen. Kissing his mate on the cheek, Flompky nuzzled his neck. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this was happening. Until this passes over, I’ll make the trips outside of The Grove if you’d like. Or I’ll just go with you, so I can protect you.”

Rheim smiled to himself, glad that his mate didn’t hate him. But still, he didn’t know the full truth. Sighing deeply, Rheim pushed himself up again and scooted off of the charr’s lap. 

“That’s not all Key. I can...hear it. I can hear...him. Mordremoth. A buzzing in my head that won’t go away. It was faint enough that I could push it back, but lately it’s been getting louder. I can’t stand it. What if I hurt someone? What if I hurt you?” he explained, his panic rising again. 

Rheim felt Key’s arms around him again, trying to calm him. He soaked in the loving embrace, grateful that his charr was so supportive. He cried again, this time not as violently, but the tears came. Flompky half dragged Rheim back into his lap and laid back onto the couch so that the sylvari could relax on top of him.

“Rheim, you aren’t going to hurt me. You’ve fought it this long, you can keep fighting. And I’ll be here with you to help whenever I can. It’s going to be hard, yes, but we’re going to make it. Hopefully Mordremoth will be defeated soon.”

Rheim sniffled a few more times before pulling his body up Key’s chest. He kissed his mate, rubbing his nose against Key’s snout. 

“Thank you Key. I love you so much. I was afraid you’d leave me if you found out that I could hear Mordremoth even from here. I originally thought that maybe if I went to the Black Citadel, I would be far enough to drown the buzzing out. But as soon as I got there, I was made to feel so unwelcome that I turned back and went to Lion’s Arch. The reception was less harsh, since it’s neutral territory, but it was still uncomfortable. So I came back home.” Rheim sighed.

“I’m not gonna leave you. You’re stuck with me for life, Stick.” Flompky teased, earning a smile from the sylvari at the use of his silly nickname. They stayed that way, hugging and comforting each other. Flompky kissed the top of Rheim’s head but froze. Sniffing the air, he looked down at his mate.

“Uhhh...Rheim? I think the food is burning.”

Rheim hopped up from the couch, running towards the kitchen. Flompky gave a deep belly laugh and followed his mate into the kitchen, glad to finally be home. 

**Author's Note:**

> My [neglected] GW2 tumblr blog has screens/art of both [**Rheim**](https://xhaira-gw2.tumblr.com/tagged/rheim) and [**Flompky**](https://xhaira-gw2.tumblr.com/tagged/flompky).


End file.
